Film Review: Character Archetypes Presented In The Film 'The Princess Bride'

 Today I learnt about character archetypes and how they are involved in narrative artforms. Archetypes in there simplest for, can be summarized as a set of traits that are specific and identifiable to a character.

"Archetype" means original pattern in ancient Greek

I leant about the 12 Jungian archetypes. Jung used the concept of archetypes in his theory of the human psyche. He believed that 12 universal characters archetypes reside in out collective unconscious. He believed that the 12 primary types are the motivation which humans use to justify how they act. Each human tends to have one dominant of the twelve archetypes which defines our personality. 

These 12 archetypes can then be further divided up into 4 of the motivations:

Ego - leave a mark on the world

Order - provide structure to the world

Social - connects to others

Freedom - yearn for paradise

A combination of the two above create the main archetypes seen below. 

  The Hero: The hero is the protagonist, they restore balance whilst growing throughout their journey. 

The Herald: A spoken call to the adventure (physical or abstract)

The Mentor: Helps brings guidance to the hero on their journey.

The Threshold  Guardian: These test the hero.

The Shape Shiftier:  Hides intentions and loyalties.

 The Shadow: A embody of darkest fears and phobias. May not always be "evil" and can be a part of the hero.

The Trickster: Makes mischief, a clown character and can throw the hero into bad situations.

 Allies: The support network, can be a sidekick/ partner etc. Helps the hero though transitions.

 The Father:  Represents  authority and power, they are often judgement and serious.  (male)

The Mother: Caring, nurturing, and helpful. (Female)

The Child: Innocent views/ childlike. Has potential for growth. Normally seen as pure and innocent.

The Maiden: The embodiment of purity and sexuality. Can transition and grow. 

 

After being briefed about archetypes, I then watched the 1987 film Princess Bride. 

After watching the film, the first thing I did was identify each of the main characters archetypes. The Princess Bride is a traditional fairytale narrative, however each of the characters archetypes have been exaggerated in order to create comedy. 

Westley (beginning of story as farm boy)

The innocent - lives a humble life on a farm, his goal is to look after his love interest Buttercup. His desire is to get to paradise with his lover. Dies innocently to pirates on quest to get money in order to wed love interest.

The man in black (Westley after pirate attack)

Mystery man who appears in the aid of the kidnapped Princess. He seems to be talented at everything, shown by winning sword fight, beating giant, being immune to poison and surviving torture.

Hero = Love interest = shadow 

Inigo Montoya

Driven by revenge to avenge his fathers unfair death. He meets hero while assisting in the kidnapping of the princess.

Starts as threshold guardian, however latter turns to ally. This could also make him a shapeshifter as he hides his loyalties from Vizzini and his real goal is to avenge Father.

Buttercup

Serves as the main incentive of the narrative for both the hero and villain. She is in love with Westley, however believes that he is dead. She is being forced to marry into the royal family for political reasons.

Damsel in distress = The maiden + love interest

Fezzik

Giant man who is mostly told what to do by others throughout the narrative. Is very strong and wants to be accepted by others.

Outcast = Ally + Threshold guardian + The Shadow

Vizzini

Leader of the princess kidnapping trio. Believes he is smarter than everyone else and attempts to appose the hero

The Trickster

Miracle Max

Helps Westley recover from torture and provides him and allies with information

The Mentor

Prince Humperdinck

Heir to the throne and main antagonist of the story. Wants to marry Buttercup and then stagea  murder to start a war. 

Villain = The Father + Trickster + The Shadow + Shape Shifter

Count Ragen

The princes right-hand-man and murderer of Montoya father

The Shape shifter + Threshold guardian

Review

Watching The Princess Bride was a strange experience. I initially thought the film was going to be boring, due to its premise and because of the time the film was made. The introduction to the film also would lead you to believe this, with it having a classical fairy tale setting, with two characters expressing their love for each other. The scene is very cliché, with cheesy dialogue such as "As you wish", a response made by Westley after every request from Buttercup. However before this scene is presented to the audience, their are two additional characters introduced to the narrative, an unnamed old man and his grandson who is claiming to be ill. The old man offers to read the tale named "The Princess Bride" to the boy in order to cure his boredom, however the boy refuses, expressing his dislike of "kissing books". At this point I feel like the conversation between the old man and grandson is meant to reflect how the audience feels towards the film. Just as I expressed at the beginning of the review, I was worried that the fairy tale was going to be boring. This was then solidified when I saw the opening scene, with the boy going as far in the film as to stop the old man from reading. At this point most of the audience has already prejudged the film, using the clichés presented in the opening credits to predict the generic formula the film will use. Most people at this point would probably be inclined to stop watching the film, but much like in the film, are encouraged to press on by the old mans encouragement. I think the whole reason for this introduction and the inclusion of the old man and young boy, is to set up the comedy elements see throughout the film. In the viewers (and boys) mind, they have already decided that the film will be boring as it plays on the classical tropes seen in almost every fairy-tale. The film now has the viewer exactly where it wants them to be. Once the story begins to progress further and further, more characters are introduced which are embodiments of their exaggerated archetypes. 

With the introduction of the man in black, the film begins to devolve into a silly comedy disguised as a classical fairy tale. Characters are only present in the scene so that they can show of their exaggerated personality, based solely on an archetype used within traditional fair tales. 

Overall I liked how different the film was, taking the classical fairy tale narrative and twisting it to fit a comedy. It was interesting to see how each of the characters interacted with each other and no character felt like they were there for no reason. Everyone had a purpose and that was to drive the plot forward in their own way. I like the inclusion of the old man and grandson as I feel like their dynamic contrasts that of someone who has watched the film before and someone who hasn't. The old man reminds me of an older family member who has fond memories of the film and probably quotes it often. They have gotten their child or grandchild to watch the film so that they can understand what their quoting. At first the child is hesitant to watch the film, thinking that its a dated fairy tale. However this is what the story wants you to think so that when the stupidity begins, it seems much funnier. This is done by subverting the viewers expectation. The comedy is also eased into the narrative, making it seem strange at first but still believable. You begin to slightly question what you are watching, however let it slip as its just an old film. However the absurdity of each situation begins to ramp up until the viewer can no longer take what they are seeing seriously. I think this is seen best with the introduction of the man in black (Westley). The approach to comedy can be broken up with each opponent he fights. Starting firstly with Inigo, who he has a strange interaction but is still believable enough for the audience to move past. Inigo honouring his promise to let Westley climb to the top of the rope before fighting him is goofy, however plays into his overall character and so does not seem abnormal. Most people in that situation would just cut the rope and walk away, however Inigo is not like this and wants a fair duel with his opponent. The viewer learns more about the characters reasoning for this through his speech about his father and so the strangeness is cleared up. Westley displays his sword fighting skills which are very over-the-top however this can be brushed off because he is the main character so its fits with his archetype. Next Westley faces Fezzik the giant. As the fight is so one sided, with Fezzik having overwhelming power, it seems as though Westley will have to retreat and re-strategize his plans. However Westley does not do this and instead faces the giant one on one and wins. This concept is definitely absurd, however again plays into the main character and hero archetype, to the point that the viewer can brush it off. The viewer now knows the capabilities of the hero and it seems as though he might succeed in his mission of saving the princess. The final opponent is Vizzini, who claims to be the smarter man. This scene is where the story finally shows off its true motive to the viewer, with the two characters having a very strange, comedic interaction. Vizzini rambles about his intelligence, expressing that he will not lose the battle for the princess to Westley. They agree to settle the conflict by a mind game in which one of the two cups of wine is poisoned. The two characters then have an entertaining interaction which ends with the both drinking the wine. After both consuming the wine, Westley then announces that both wines were in fact poised and it is due to his years of training that he managed to withstand the poisons toxicity. This leads to Vizzini's defeat. This is such an absurd concept, because it is such a dumb reason, however you cant help but go along with it as it perfectly plays into Westley archetype as the hero. This idea is presented throughout the narrative in order to create the comedy in The Princess Bride. Each character plays off of the expectation set by their archetype, which subverts the audience expectation, creating funny situations. 

Overall I enjoyed watching the film as it gave me a different perspective on how to present characters in media. It helped me to understand the importance of character archetypes and explained how we as the audience have expectations of certain characters based off of our common exposure to said archetypes throughout media.